


Take Care Of Jamie Day (Dani’s Favorite Holiday)

by ExhaustedSunflower



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Burns, Comfort, Dirty Jokes, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28268313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExhaustedSunflower/pseuds/ExhaustedSunflower
Summary: They were home for the day, an easy day. It’s Sunday, the only day their shop is closed and Dani just barely convinced Jamie to allow the neighboring craft store owner to pop in and water the every day water-needer’s. They spent most of the day in their bed cuddling and, ah, getting up to other things.But then, Dani berates herself, she had to go and suggest they try their hand at cooking. They have the barebones left from their last grocery trip, but some spaghetti noodles and tomato sauce stood proudly as a reminder that they are responsible adults.Fucking spaghetti.It was supposed to be easy! Just a quick dinner, some laughter, then back to bed. And it was going that way. But they got a little distracted, and now Jamie’s a shaking mess on the floor and Dani is trying to convince her that a little burn is not going to kill her.
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Comments: 3
Kudos: 116





	Take Care Of Jamie Day (Dani’s Favorite Holiday)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CynicalRainbows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynicalRainbows/gifts).



> Based on the post from CynicalRainbows on tumblr:
> 
> “I don’t have the energy to write this right now but I want a fic about Dani and Jamie cooking together and Jamie accidentally letting a pot boil over or spilling the kettle and Dani getting burnt. Not badly burnt, only just the very mildest of tiny red marks, but it’s enough to make her jump and shriek (because no one reacts well to boiling water all of a sudden!) and Jamie absolutely panics because....well, she has A History of people she loves getting scalded and losing them because of it, and it sends her into a spiral of guilt and panic that neither of them were expecting at ALL. Basically, I want to see Dani being the strong, caring one for a change.”

They were home for the day, an easy day. It’s Sunday, the only day their shop is closed and Dani just barely convinced Jamie to allow the neighboring craft store owner to pop in and water the every day water-needer’s. They spent most of the day in their bed cuddling and, ah, getting up to _other things._

But then, Dani berates herself, she had to go and suggest they try their hand at cooking. They have the barebones left from their last grocery trip, but some spaghetti noodles and tomato sauce stood proudly as a reminder that they are responsible adults.

_Fucking spaghetti._

It was supposed to be easy! Just a quick dinner, some laughter, then back to bed. And it was going that way. But they got a little distracted, and now Jamie’s a shaking mess on the floor and Dani is trying to convince her that a little burn is not going to kill her.

-

“Aren’t you supposed to add oil?”

“Don’t know, I heard an Italian once say not to.”

“Babe, as much as I love you trying to respect the Italian’s, we don’t need to make this any more complicated than it needs to be.” Dani’s voice isn’t unkind, her tone is a steady reminder that between the two of them they’ve barely been able to keep the place from burning down.

Jamie looks considerate for a moment, then nods, “Yeah, best add oil then.” She says as she grabs the necessity from their cabinet.

Content in waiting for the water to boil, they start making their own soft conversation. It’s the same loving and soft way they’ve been speaking to each other all day. It’s been a good day. The day has been just the two of them basking in each each other’s calming presence. 

And then suddenly Jamie's wrapping her arms around Dani’s neck, leaning against the counter as Dani kisses her tenderly. Dani’s been making today about pampering Jamie. Jamie, for her own part in it, has been mainly letting Dani do what she desires. Mostly because Dani’s persuasion started the moment she woke up with soft kisses and back rubs.

They love this. They love _each other._ The calm energy of the day takes over as they leisurely absorb each other’s space, giving and taking in equal pace. Dani places her hands on each side of Jamie on the counter, leaning further in.

But, apparently, the calm of day was meant to be broken. The pot just next to them boils over, and some of the splash gets on Dani’s arm. Just the side of the forearm, down the wrist and a bit getting her hand. Not enough to send her into the hospital, but enough to certainly make her jump back.

She pulls back with a high pitched noise, what would have been a scream if she’d used her voice above a whisper at all today. The contents of the pot continue to boil over, getting just a bit, _literally just a drop_ , on Jamie’s arm, which immediately frightens her out of shock and right into panic. Dani has just a moment to take in Jamie’s paled and horrified face, then the woman is jumping into Dani, frantically trying to examine her arm.

_“Are you-“_

_“I’m-_

_“Dani I-“_

_“It’s really-“_

And then the pot, momentarily forgotten in their panic, spills aggressively onto the floor, almost splattering on them if they weren’t the furthest away from it they can get. Jamie yelps and jumps further into the other counter now just behind them, a sound that Dani has never heard from her. Dani realizes that she hadn’t even moved this far. It was Jamie, frightened to the point of running from the point of stress, that pulled her to the other side of the kitchen. Dani takes a step toward the stove to turn it off but Jamie grips her hand, the good one, and begs her not to go over there. 

_Begs. Jamie doesn’t beg._

Dani looks at her girlfriend, concern coursing through her veins. She’s already got tear tracks running down her face. By the way her chest is moving rapidly, it's clear Jamie’s having a panic attack. Another splash from the stove causes a full body flinch and a squeak. Her eyes, which were just peering at her clearly in distress, are now closed lid and flittering. Her grip does not relent.

“Jamie. Jamie, baby, it’s okay.”

This gets a response, but unfortunately it’s an indescribably distressed sound.

“Hey, you don’t have to open your eyes. Okay baby? You don’t have to, but I need to turn off the stove.”

She doesn’t respond, so Dani places her now injured hand gingerly on Jamie’s jaw and rubs soothingly, trying to ground her. The raw skin shows on the edge of her vision.

“Jamie? Can you hear me?” She gets a terse and jerky nod.

“Okay, I have to turn off the stove or it’ll start a fire. I’ll be right back, I just need to turn off the stove.”

It takes a moment, Dani’s nearly convinced she’s going to just have to pull herself out of Jamie's grasp- which she _really_ doesn’t want to do. But she does get a response.

Shakily, Jamie loosens her grip. _“Y-you need to turn off the s-stove.”_ She repeats shakily.

Slowly, Dani pulls herself out of Jamie’s hands, and briskly avoids the hot water on the floor to go turn off the gas. She watches the pot’s contents come down to a safe place, then immediately goes back to Jamie. She can deal with the clean up later, Jamie comes first.

The first thing she notices when she turns around is that Jamie has slid down the island behind her and is sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees.. The second thing she notices is that even though the bubbling from the pot is gone, Jamie is still incredibly freaked out. She’s quiet, inexplicably so. Tears are still running down her face, her eyes are still closed, her chest is still rising and falling rapidly, and she’s still shaking. But it’s as though she’s forcing herself to keep it all in with her tense posture curled up where she is.

_She looks like a time bomb of nerves_ , Dani notes, unsure how to approach this situation.

Dani starts by walking slowly over to Jamie and sitting next to her, then she reaches over and takes one of Jamie’s hands into her own. She places her burned arm slightly behind herself in order to keep it fully out of Jamie’s line of sight. If she opens her eyes, the last thing Dani needs is her to see that. Jamie squeezes the hand she was given, seemingly accepting the comfort. _Good, that’s a good start._

She tries to figure out why the pot boiling over would cause such a reaction. They’ve been having such a calm day, there were no building anxieties. 

“Jamie, what happened honey?” She questions softly. Jamie seems to hear her, but doesn’t seem up to speaking quite yet. So Dani just leans over and allows Jamie to lean back into her, physical comfort seems to be getting further than speaking anyway.

Jamie’s head lays on Dani’s shoulder and the tears fall onto her bare skin. Dani’s heart breaks to see her love in such distress. She places her head atop Jamie’s to keep her there.

Has Jamie ever mentioned anything involving boiling water before? In that secluded place in the gardens of Bly Manor, when Jamie spilled her life’s story to Dani to show that she’s all in for them, had she mentioned it? Like- _oh._

_“I try and take care of him, but I'm just a kid. Kids can't raise kids. I forget things. Like watching over a pot when it boils... So one day there's an accident. Social Services gets involved, and we're split up.”_

And, okay, yeah, that makes sense. Dani berates herself internally for not realizing before, but with the shock of the moment she wasn’t thinking.

“Baby, I’m okay.”

She feels Jamie perk up a bit under her, she’s listening.

“Really, I’m fine. It was just a bit of water, we both forgot.”

“ _I_ forgot.” Jamie hisses, quietly. She did, but Dani was just as responsible for it. They were both in the kitchen, both were cooking. Dani could have noticed before it spilled over just as much as Jamie could have done so. So, equal blame.

“We both did,” Dani insists, “That was quite the kiss.” She tries to add a bit of flirting into her voice to sooth over the tension.

Jamie pulls her head away from Dani’s shoulder and looks at her, eye’s open now, finally. 

“It was.” She agrees, voice still a whisper.

Oh, thank God. Dani wasn’t sure Jamie was ever going to open her eyes, let alone properly respond to anything she says.

But then her gaze flickers to Dani’s arm that’s hidden from her view. “Can I see?”

Dani knows immediately what she’s talking about, and immediately disagrees. But Jamie is insistent.

“I need to see, Dani. You got burned.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I can take care of it after I take care of you.”

_“Dani-“_ She tries to fight it.

Dani mocks her tone, stopping her objections. _“Jamie.”_

Jamie rolls her eyes, “Oi, Poppins, only room for one smart Alec in this tiny kitchen.”

Dani chuckles, glad that Jamie’s okay enough to banter now. 

“Yes, and it’s me. Sorry ‘bout that.”

Her girlfriend laughs. It’s not the loud and adorable giggle that she knows and loves, but it’s something. Baby steps, then.

They get lost in each other’s eyes for a bit. Sad eyes meeting fully concerned one’s. Jamie’s said on multiple occasions, during their heart filled moments of open communication, that her favorite way to be comforted by Dani is to just be near her. Her energy, full of love and support, is enough. Just Dani is enough.

Dani rubs her thumb over Jamie’s knuckles, she feels the sting of the burns on her other arm start to sting but is determined not to show any sign of discomfort. Not until Jamie is okay. Dani would wait forever, sit through literal torture, just to be sure Jamie is okay. And she knows that Jamie feels the same. It’s a magical feeling. Being in love to the point that it controls your pain tolerance, to be so enamored by someone that you’d do anything, _literally anything_ , for them. It’s even better when it’s mutual.

Suddenly, Jamie tears her eyes away from their mutual gaze and looks down at their hands.

“I’m sorry you got hurt.”

Dani shakes her head. “I’m okay.”

Jamie raises an eyebrow, but still doesn’t meet her eyes.

“I _did_ hear you scream.”

She smirks, but before she can turn it into a dirty joke Jamie speaks again.

“I got scared. Last time that happened…” She trails off. But Dani knows, so she nods.

“I know.”

A deep breath, rising and falling of her chest much slower than it previously was. Going back to calm, but not light calm, this calm is resigned sadness. Some memories will remain sad, heart wrenching even, even after you’ve long made peace with it. Dani can tell this is one of them. Mikey was just a baby, Jamie doesn’t have enough happy memories from that time with him to make his memory anything but sour.

“Maybe we can find him.” She suggests before she even thinks it through. Jamie startles, looking back up at her with confusion.

“What?”

Too late to go back now. “We can find him. You clearly miss him, and maybe seeing him will help you feel better.”

Jamie is hesitant, Dani knows she’s thought of it before, but it was always at the back of her mind. The desire to see her brother again was only whispered aloud once, in bed as they discussed regrets from their pasts.

“I don’t know, Poppin’s. Would we even be able to?”

Dani shrugs, best not be too optimistic. No false hope, just regular hope.

“There’s a whole market for it. If we can’t find him ourselves, we can always hire someone.”

“Really?” She looks so scared, but there’s a spark of hope. She wants this. 

“Of course. Maybe we’ll find him.”

Jamie smiles, a sad reminiscent thing. “Would he even want to see me?”

And just like that, Dani’s heart breaks in two. “Why wouldn’t he?”

“I mean, after what I did-“

“ _Hey,_ hey, you didn’t do anything. It was an accident.”

Her girlfriend, brows furrowed, responds, “It was my fault.”

“It was _not._ You were only a kid. It was an accident. He can hardly blame you for that.”

“I’d blame me.”

Dani shakes her head, because Jamie wouldn’t. Jamie, who pretends to be rude to strangers in order to keep from getting hurt, but actually would defend anyone on the street with her heart of gold, would never. Just like she’d never hurt anyone on purpose. 

“It was shitty circumstances. No one should have expected you to be responsible for a baby. What happened was your parents’ fault, Jamie. Not you.”

Knowing what she knows about that time in Jamie’s life makes her have immense respect for the woman, even more so than she did before she knew. It wasn’t her kid, not her responsibility, and yet as a mere child she understood that the baby needed taking care of. She took on that responsibility, only a person with the best kind of heart would do so without hesitation. She didn’t go get help, didn’t ask for help. She just did it. 

Jamie got hurt too. The scarring on her shoulder and down her arm, reminders of what she lost, what she’s been through. And she never complains about that, always just is ashamed of her part in a little boy's pain. Pain that was not her fault in the slightest.

“Still would like to see your arm, love.” Jamie says, changing the topic before she cries again. 

“Nope, today is officially _Take Care Of Jamie Day_. Now, let's get up. I’ll clean up, and you will go and take a warm bath.”

Jamie smiles, fondness returning to her expression. “Is it now? That why ya’ been spoilin’ me all day then?”

Dani beams at her, “Of course it is. It’s my favorite holiday.” She jokes, standing and bringing Jamie up with her. She sees Jamie try to catch a glimpse of her arm and assess the damage. Dani keeps the side of her arm out of sight. She hasn’t even looked at it herself yet.

“Thought that was Christmas?” Jamie allows herself to be led to the bathroom. Dani steals a quick kiss before responding.

“That’s _your_ favorite holiday, honey.”

They share a soft laugh, and Dani closes the bathroom door. She waits until she can hear the water running before walking away. The first thing she does is look at her arm. Just as she suspected, red spots start on the edge of her hand and make their way up her arm. They’ll be gone in a day or so, maybe the worst parts will blister because she didn’t treat it right away. _Worth it though._

She runs some cold water over the burns; and when she decides that's enough, she applies ointment and leaves it be. Not bad enough to need a gauze, but just enough to need a soother. The relief comes quickly, and the redness is less noticeable, so after treating the burns she grabs some paper towels and dries the now cooled water. 

All the while she keeps an ear out for Jamie. She hears an occasional splash, but nothing indicating she might be needed. Still though, she listens.

Maybe tomorrow they’ll make a list of people they can ask about her brother. Maybe they can find her old social worker to help. Dani is more than willing to be a full part of this investigation. Anything to give Jamie closure. She just hopes that Mikey ended up somewhere safe.

Dani decides to scrap the spaghetti idea for now. The last thing they need is another pot of boiling water. Instead of cooking at all, she picks up the phone and calls the Chinese place down the street. She orders Jamie’s favorite, as well as a few sides and some extra fortune cookies. _Take Care Of Jamie Day,_ indeed.

With all of that out of the way, she goes into their bedroom and pulls out Jamie’s favorite sleep shirt as well as a sweater for herself. This way, Jamie will be comfortable, and Dani can comfortably cover her burns until Jamie is emotionally ready to see them. Then she goes and knocks on the bathroom door.

She hears a soft voice beckon her in, and when she opens it she sees a much more relaxed Jamie sitting in a cloudy tub. The air smells of lavender, so she must have used the bath salts. 

She sits on the edge of the tub, “I ordered Chinese.”

Jamie nods, humming contentedly. When she looks up though, she looks a little bit disturbed. Dani follows her line of sight and comes to her arm, which is now covered by her sweater.

“Is it that bad?”

Dani shakes her head fiercely, “No! Not bad at all. I just don’t want you to worry. I’ll show you when you feel better.”

Jamie tries to reach for that hand, “I feel better.”

Dani pulls her hand away, “No. Tomorrow, okay?”

She pouts, “But I’m worried now!”

Dani reaches over with her uninjured arm, and pulls Jamie’s back to her eyes with her fingers lightly guiding her chin. 

“Do you trust me?”

Jamie pouts again and her brows furrow adorably, “That’s not fair.”

Dani shakes her head, “Do you though?”

Jamie breathes in and out heavily. “Of course I do, Poppins.”

“Good.” 

And Dani lets her go, but Jamie keeps her head exactly where it was. She looks at Dani, eye’s searching. Dani’s not sure what she’s looking for, maybe confirmation that she’s not lying about the severity of her arm; but whatever it is she finds it because she nods and shifts a bit in the tub.

“Take Care Of Jamie Day, ay?” She questions with a smirk.

Dani nods, matching her smirk.

“What does that entail, exactly?”

Dani leans down, and whispers, “Anything you want.”

Jamie exhales from her nose, something of a laugh. All of the humor is in her eyes though. Well, humor and _something else._ But before they can do anything about the energy they’ve just created, with Jamie in the bathtub naked and Dani hovering over her with her eyes traveling, there’s a bang from the front door. They pull away from each other abruptly, caught off guard. 

Jamie swears and Dani laughs. “That’s probably the food. I’ll get that, you get dressed.”

“I don’t _wanna_ get dressed.” Jamie groans, prompting another laugh from Dani.

“Well, you’re more than welcome to join me for dinner wet and naked. I can’t say I’m opposed to the idea.”

Jamie immediately flushes a new shade of red, which has Dani near tears in laughter. Another knock on the door pulls Dani from the bathroom, though on the way out she can hear Jamie getting out of the bathtub grumbling to herself.

_“‘Not opposed to the idea.’ Blimey.”_

Dani giggles once more as she grabs the money for the food and then goes to get the door. There’s a quick exchange and with the delivery person, and then Dani goes to set up the food in the living room. They can eat there today, all for comfort. 

When Jamie joins her, she isn’t naked. She’s wearing the shirt Dani’s provided and a small smile. She walks up to Dani, confident and smiley once again, and pulls her onto the couch with her.

“Honey, we need to eat.”

Jamie just shifts to sit right on top of her in response.

“You started it.” She says, not unchildlike. Dani chuckles.

“Actually, you did. And now you have to deal with it. I’m hungry.”

Jamie whines, _legit whines,_ at that _._ Dani just laughs again. She reaches past Jamie to grab the platter she’s ordered for her and delights when she opens it and sees her girlfriend light up at the contents. She grabs it and climbs off of Dani’s lap, seemingly content with the food.

“I didn’t realize I was so hungry.” She comments, and Dani nods. With all the events in the past hour she’d completely forgotten her hunger.

Dani is still concerned, but Jamie seems to be okay for now, so she keeps her concern to herself. They can talk more later, right now they can eat in peace.

-

And talk later they did. The next morning, in bed. _Cuddling, mind you. Get your mind out of the gutter._

Dani finally showed Jamie her arm, not nearly as bad as Jamie thought it would be. They discussed where they would start with finding Jamie’s little brother, Mikey. And Jamie confided that every time they cook, she gets stressed and paranoid. It’s never usually enough to cause a scene like it did the night before. But it is something to be noted, and Dani promises she will take on the brunt of cooking from now on.

“You’re shit at it anyway.”

They laugh, breaking through the sadness that has descended on the room. They can handle it, Dani will do anything for Jamie. Jamie is excited at the prospect of speaking to her brother again, and Dani swears she’ll go to the ends of the earth to give this to her.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!!


End file.
